Category Archives: Southern History

Evolution of a Blog: “Retired But Not Shy” at Four

[NOTE: If I had not edited my school’s “History Department Newsletter” over the last few years of my teaching career, I might never have become a blogger. Using a template provided by Microsoft, I planned each bi-monthly issue, parceled out … Continue reading

Posted in "Lincoln"--the movie, "The Race Beat", American History, Blues Women, Books, Civil Rights Movement, Civil War, Current Events, Delta Blues, Dr. Martin Luther King, George R. Gilmer, Georgia History, Historical Reflection, History, History Curriculum, Interdisciplinary Work, James Gunn, Martin Luther King, Popular Culture, prep school teaching with a PhD, Research, Retirement, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Teaching, The Blues, Vietnam War, Wilson Lumpkin | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Georgia and the American Revolution, III: The Imperial Crisis, 1765-1774 (In Pursuit of Dead Georgians, 14)

[This is the third in a series of posts on the American Revolution in Georgia and its consequences for politics in the state during the decades after the war. (For earlier posts, see here and here.)] * * * * … Continue reading

Posted in American History, American Revolution, Colonial Georgia, Georgia History, Historical Reflection, History, prep school teaching with a PhD, Research, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Georgia and the American Revolution, II: Britain’s New Colonial Policy, 1763-1774 (In Pursuit of Dead Georgians, 13)

[For the first post in this series, go here.] Between 1660 and 1760, a dangerous gap developed between the guiding theory of the British Empire and imperial practice. According to the dominant economic theory of the era, mercantilism, the welfare … Continue reading

Posted in American History, American Revolution, Colonial Georgia, Georgia History, Historical Reflection, History, History Curriculum, Prep School, prep school teaching with a PhD, Research, Retirement, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

The South on the Nation’s Psychiatric Couch, Again

A Review of Tracy Thompson, The New Mind of the South. New York and London: The Free Press, 2013. [NOTE:  I became a historian of the South not by birth, but because a southern grad school to which I’d applied … Continue reading

Posted in Age of Jim Crow, American History, Books, Civil Rights Movement, Civil War, Current Events, Georgia History, Historical Reflection, History, History graduate school, Popular Culture, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Georgia and the American Revolution, I: Colonial Background, 1732-1763 (In Pursuit of Dead Georgians, 12)

[NOTE: In the winter of 1976, I offered an eight-week course (meeting one evening a week) on “Georgia and the American Revolution, 1763-1783,” to interested members of our parent body. A new book on the subject, combining narrative with primary … Continue reading

Posted in American History, American Revolution, Colonial Georgia, Georgia History, Historical Reflection, History, History Curriculum, Prep School, prep school teaching with a PhD, Research, Retirement, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized, WP Long Form | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Early Blues–Full of Sound and Fury, Signifying Everything (Blues Stories, 17)

A Review of R.A. Lawson, Jim Crow’s Counterculture: The Blues and Black Southerners, 1890-1945. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2010. [NOTE: As I’ve explained elsewhere, my initial interest in the Blues developed because my older son and I were … Continue reading

Posted in Age of Jim Crow, Alan Lomax, American History, Big Bill Broonzy, Chicago Blues, Civil Rights Movement, Delta Blues, Historical Reflection, History, History Curriculum, History of Rock and Roll, Interdisciplinary Work, Leadbelly, Popular Culture, Robert Johnson, Southern History, Teaching, The Blues, Uncategorized, Urban Blues | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

“That’s Why They Paid Me the Big Bucks” (Be True to Your School, I)

[NOTE: What follows is a revised version of an editorial from the final issue I edited of Atlanta’s Finest Prep School’s (AFPS) History Department newsletter, upon the occasion of my retirement. The title phrase was one I used regularly with … Continue reading

Posted in Historical Reflection, History, Prep School, prep school teaching with a PhD, Retirement, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

Blues Theology, Part 2: “Me and the Devil” (Blues Stories, 16)

[NOTE: Thus far, we’ve looked at the birth of the Blues in the Mississippi Delta and reviewed in rather broad terms the charge that, for many African Americans, the Blues was the “Devil’s Music.” In this post, we’ll look at … Continue reading

Posted in "Charley Patton", Age of Jim Crow, Delta Blues, History, John Lee Hooker, Research, Southern History, The Blues, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Blues Theology, Part 1: The “Devil’s Music” (Blues Stories, 15)

[Note: In previous posts [here and here], we have looked at the origins of the Blues in the Mississippi Delta and seen that life for Delta blacks involved hard physical labor, rigid segregation, and shocking violence. Among the few places … Continue reading

Posted in "Charley Patton", Age of Jim Crow, B.B. King, Big Bill Broonzy, Delta Blues, History, Interdisciplinary Work, Research, Son House, Southern History, The Blues, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

The Chitlin’ Circuit: Life, Death, and a Musical Revolution (Blues Stories, 14)

A Review of Preston Lauterbach, The Chitlin’ Circuit and the Road to Rock ‘n’ Roll. New York and London: W.W. Norton & Company, 2011. [NOTE:  As Blues fans know, the “chitlin’ circuit” kept the Blues alive after World War II … Continue reading

Posted in Age of Jim Crow, American History, B.B. King, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Delta Blues, History, Muddy Waters, Research, Southern History, TBone Walker, The Blues, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment